Saturday, 30 April 2011

The East India Company did everything in a very organised way. Including getting beer for the use of their troops in India. Great for me, because they've left loads of evidence behind for me to gather up from the road of history. Much like my grandmother used to chase after the coalman, picking up any coals that spilled.

In the 1850's - a period when as we've already seen many were keen on getting soldiers off spirits - "Allen's Indian Mail" has lots of adverts from the East India Company inviting tenders for beer orders. This is a typical one:

Notice anything odd about it? That's right: the order for Porter is more than double that for Pale Ale. OK, that's just one advert. To get a clearer picture, I've collected all the numbers from the adverts I've found and put them into a nice, neat table. This is it:

East India Company beer tenders (hogsheads)

Month

Year

Export London Porter

Export Pale Ale

Dec

1849

4,322

Jan

1850

1,420

Sept

1850

4,010

Nov

1850

700

50

Dec

1850

1,500

Aug

1851

1,500

1,000

Sep

1851

3,300

50

Sep

1851

6,892

Mar

1852

300

Jun

1852

8,266

Dec

1852

8,000

2,000

Feb

1853

2,526

3,289

Mar

1853

2,000

2,435

Oct

1853

8,520

2,839

Mar

1854

300

Aug

1854

8,841

3,247

Dec

1855

15,407

11,131

Jul

1856

11,414

Oct

1857

10,701

9,133

Total

46,363

23,511

Source:

"Allen's Indian mail and register of intelligence for British and foreign India" volumes 8,9,10,11,12,13,14 and 15

Fascinating, isn't it? The amount of Porter requested is about double that of Pale Ale. That's quite a different picture than the one usually painted of Pale Ale swilling expats.

Friday, 29 April 2011

Memories. Treacherous little bastards that they are. This is a tale that starts with an episode of the Simpsons and ends in surprise, disappointment and something else that I haven't thought of yet but will add into the final edit.

The modern world, eh? Everything on tap. At the drop of a hat.

The Simpson's has some great jokes. I've modelled my fatherhood on Homer. Ron. A joke with Ron in it had to be my favourite.

"In the Garden of Eden" by I. Ron Butterfly.

Obsessive is a bit of a recurring theme in my life. Beer. Pies. Music. In particular the sort of stuff the NME liked in my formative years. (Meat and potato, that's what the NME recommended. None of that revisionist beef and onion crap.)

Skint. That describes my childhood years. No money for new records and no effing downloads. What were my options? Systematic taping from the radio and second hand stalls.

Funny how some things stick in your memory. I can remember setting off for that market. In a field. A car boot you'd call it now. Me and my brother. Dragging poor Mum around all those record stalls. Standing while we went flickidy flickidy flick through banks of disks. It must have driven her crazy. Like my kids do me, when they browse a games shop.

We'd prepared, me and my brother Dave. We were on the look out for Strange Locomotion and Tom and Jerry. And, of course, that late sixties stuff I'd been reading about in NME.

The world is a very different place now. Film, music, TV. Everything is available at the drop of a switch. Jammy. jammy, jammy bastards, the kids of today. Telly programmes were shown once or twice and then gone forever. There were no videos or DVD's. If you wanted to watch a film, you had to go to the cinema or wait five years until it was shown on TV.

Records. Most were deleted within a year or two. Most stuff more than a couple of years old was only available second hand.

You see these threads merging here?

In some bleak East Midlands field, I was delighted to get my sticky teenage hands on a weighty, if scratchy, copy of Ball by Iron Butterfly. (In term of record-buying coups, it rates second to finding The Standell's Try It for 25p in Mablethorpe.*)

I've not listened to it in years. It was quite a shock. I can't remember bugger all of it. Not even the tracks that inspired the poetry I burned on reaching nineteen.

Barnsley Bitter, Home Mild, Holes Mild. That's what I drank back then, in the days when I though Ball was the grooviest record ever. I hope my memory of the beer is better.

* At least for me. Dave's highlight was finding Five Live Yardbirds in Cornwall. I record that later went missing when in my custody. He still hasn't forgiven me.

Thursday, 28 April 2011

Time for the next beer in our Kidd 1934 series. (And only one day late.) This tinme it's PA, or Bitter as it would have been called down the boozer.

In reading "The Pub and the People" I've realised there was a big difference between the beers sold in a Lancashire pub and a London one. Most of the pubs in Bolton only sold one type of draught beer: Mild. In London, the choice was much greater: Mild, Bitter, Burton, Stout and possibly Porter. I think it's important to remember this difference.

It reminds mne of the 1970's. In London, when you could find cask beer, the choice was likely to be Bitter or Best Bitter (London Pride or ESB, Young's Ordinary or Young's Special, Courage Best or Directors). Mild had largely disappeared. Whereas in a Manchester, Leeds or Nottingham pub the choice was Mild or Bitter. Regional differences have been around a long time.

Today's beer is a pretty typical southern PA of the period. A touch weaker than Whitbread's PA(1044.5º to 1048º), quite a bit weaker than Barclay Perkins' PA(1052.5), but very similar in strength to Barclay Perkins' XLK (1045º). That places Kidd's PA very much as standard Bitter. You can blame WW II for kniocking about 8 gravity points off ordinary Bitter. I blame Hitler.

The recipe is pretty standard: pale malt from English and American barley, flaked maize and sugar. Note the absence of crystal malt. It only seems to have been commonly used in Bitter after WW II. Cystal malt was originally mostly used in Mild, later Stout and only much later in Bitter. I suspect it's all to do with the fall in gravity: crystal malt was used to beef up the body of the weaker wort.

One last point. Kristen seems to have been confused by the duty entry. There were three beers produced: PA at 1044.5, XXXX (darkened with caramel) at 1058.75 and something called SBA that must be a mix of the two. No idea what the gravity of that was, because it isn't given. Though interestingly it was all filled into hogsheads. The 12 gallons at 1131º are the primings.

Now over to Kristen . . . . .

Kristen’s Version:

This is one I just had to make by the gyle and straight. The gyle is very complicated, complex and I don’t really think you get more out of doing it that way. The beers are drastically different b/c of the different types of sugars and caramel added to them. This one, is definitely a stand out for me. The combo of the fuggles and brambling cross are wonderful. Lots of hop tannins to go with the heavier Invert No.2 fruit. A drive by fruiting if you would.

Ingredients

Grist – Optic, because of its maltiness, is my preferred choice here. I’ve made this w/ and w/o the 6-row. The 6-row definitely adds a level of tannins not available with other malts. I have found that using a lower alpha acid hop can actually replicate the bit of tannin the 6-row adds. It’s a different sort of tannin but gives one a better idea than not using anything. The No2 is very important. For such a pale beer it’s the primary player in the ‘fruit’ territory apart from the yeast. I’d say this beer quality will really hinge on your quality of No2. So either buy a good one or make a good one from great ingredients. Don’t skimp here.

Hops – I’ve made the rest of these beers with Brambling and frankly, I’m running low so I wanted to swap it out a bit. For Fuggles I used US Willamette which do a very nice job of being a Fuggle. The fuggles I was going to use just were great. I chose Cluster for the bitter as 1) they are cheap-o and 2) they give nearly exactly the same bitter character. For dry hop I did Willamette alone and 50:50 with the Cluster. I do have to say that I preferred the Willamette but could definitely understand the people that liked the fidy:fidy combo…a little more in your face.

Yeast – I chose my favorite PA yeast here. The Tim Taylor strain. However, I really love the Whiteshield nearly as much but its also drops a ton of that minerally character. If you have hard water, use the Taylor, if you have soft use the Whiteshield.

Salts – The first I’ve really advocated their use. Some salts really go a long way here in accentuating the bitter character and brightening the end. Using something along the lines of 0.25g Epsom and 0.5g Gypsum per liter directly in the boil kettle is a good starting point. Less if you have hard water. I wouldn’t mess around with using it in your mash to start. Get the flavors done working backwards then tweek.

Processes
Advanced Mash – There was a short underlet but the single infusion worked pretty much exactly like the multi-infusion. Really, nothing special.

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

I've been meaning to post the second part of the Brewers' Journal article on American oak for some time. But, as you know, I'm easily distracted. I think it's worth the wait. Because it's another piece in a jigsaw I've been trying to finish for a couple of years.

BREWING NOTES.

American Oak (continued).

In last month's notes an account was given of the work carried out by the Institute of Brewing after the last war in connection with the use of American oak for beer casks in this country, and a brief summary of the conclusions then reached was included. This month a more difficult point is under discussion — viz., how to treat American oak so as to prevent, or minimise, the objectionable flavour which it notoriously tends to impart to British beers.

Opinions in the brewing industry vary enormously on the suitability or otherwise of American oak for British beers, some asserting that if properly treated it provides quite a suitable cask material, whilst others are equally vehement in its condemnation.

This divergence of opinion suggests that the extractiveness of different beers may vary, and that whereas one beer may suffer little from contact with this type of timber, others extract therefrom undesirable flavouring substances which give rise to "tainted" or "woody " complaints.

A more feasible hypothesis is, perhaps, that different types of "white oak" have been used in the different cases, or that the treatments employed have been different. A cask made from newly felled, unseasoned "white oak" of an unsuitable species is sure to give violently disagreeable flavours when it is filled with beer, no matter what preliminary treatment may have been employed to minimise this. We have had personal experience of casks of this type, and we can testify that even when lined, "pickled" and treated by every - known trick, they will continue to contaminate every lot of beer with which they are filled, until they are eventually broken down and thrown away. Even one stave of timber of this kind is enough to taint the whole contents of the cask.

Careful selection of timber by an experienced buyer is essential at the very start if any success is to be obtained with American oak casks. The timber must be carefully stacked and seasoned, and should not be used as long as there is any sign of wetness. Even with well-chosen, well-seasoned timber, lining is probably advisable, and even essential in many cases. The ideal lining from the flavour point of view is something completely insulating the beer from contact with the timber. Pitch probably fulfils this condition best, but few British breweries are equipped with the plant necessary for this process, so one of the proprietary enamels will probably be the best choice for lining purposes. These enamels, which consist of plastic material dissolved in a volatile organic solvent, act partly by penetrating the pores of the timber rather than as impervious linings, and there is no doubt that they minimise "taint" due to the use of American oak in a large number of casts. Miracles should not be expected, however, and every care should be taken in the original selection and treatment of the timber so that violent taint is avoided in the first place.

Heavy firing of the cask is another expedient which may be found successful in combating timber taint in some cases.
"The Brewers' Journal 1940" page 571. (Published July 17th, 1940.)

It's not so much the fact that some American oak made beer pong that interests me. Though, given that a single stave of the wrong oak was enough to bugger any beer put into the barrel, it was a pretty serious problem. No, it's not that. It's the suggested remedy. Lining.

I've been looking for hard evidence on the lining of wooden barrels in Britain for some time. It's frustratingly difficult to track down. But this article provides some vital clues.

For the wood to taint beer, they need to come into direct contact. So the implication of this article is that barrels weren't usually lined. If they were, you wouldn't need to worry about a funny taste from the oak. The assertion "few British breweries are equipped with the plant necessary for this process" about pitch-lining makes it clear that this practice wasn't common.

I now feel confident in saying that most British barrels were unlined until at least 1940. Good to know.

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

What I treat I have today. You may not agree, but hey, this is my blog and what I say goes, OK?

During my long and tortuous research there's a certain type of source I keep stumbling on: temperance tracts. All share certain characteristics: earnest, long-winded, blinkered, self-righteous, pseudo-scientific and unable to contemplate a contrary view. I've used few, mostly because they aren't very reliable. The authors don't let little things like facts stand in the way of their righteous opinion. (Little has changed. Modern prohibitionists harbour all the same failings

This is a short extract from a long, rambling article about Pale Ale. Most is - how can I put this politely? - total bollocks. The theory about alcohol sucking all the oxygen out of the blood so waste products can't be destroyed is an interesting fantasy, but belongs more to the Middle Ages than the age of science.

But, despite all its obvious failings, it does contain a few fascinating facts.

"We choose India, then, for our battle-ground with the champions of the Burton Pale Ale; and it is most assuredly not for them to decline the combat within these lists ; for among the great benefits which the Messrs Allsopp and their coadjutors claim to have conferred upon mankind, the greatest, on their own showing, is the saving of life and health which has resulted from the extensive consumption of their liquor by European residents in India, as tested by an experience of thirty years. Upon this subject, their hired scribe, the 'London Citizen,' becomes highly eloquent; the very profitable nature of the trade affording the strongest motives that a venal writer can appreciate, to use his endeavours in its defence:—

'Since the period in question, the consumption of the article has increased with a rapidity commensurate with the growing knowledge of its potency in warding off the deadly effects of climate—the pernicious consequences of exposure to the blighting heats and not less dangerous malaria and nightly dews which planted the seeds of death in thousands of our countrymen in the East, and which, in former times, on an average of years, dug the graves of fifty per cent, of all new comers within thirty months of their arrival. Things in India are changed since then. Fearful experience, dearly purchased, has brought its plentiful crop of knowledge, and, amongst other descriptions of knowledge, that of the dietetic observances which all must obey who would live to see Old England once more, and not die during their probationary " seasoning," as it is locally termed. The consequence is, that, at the present day, the scale of mortality in most of our Oriental possessions can be calculated at the Institute for Actuaries, for ordinary seasons and circumstances, with nearly as much precision as for the meridian of Devonshire or Hants, Improved dietary regulations have done much towards this auspicious change; and amongst the articles whose use has conduced to the sustainment of the stomach and the digestive faculties, to the abrogation of the old and gloomy proverb which associated " an Indian liver" with early decay and death, a most honourable and conspicuous place is assigned to " Allsopp's Pale Ale." To the increased consumption of this salutary preparation may, in great measure, be ascribed the presence amongst us of so many " old Indians," veteran octogenarians, the bulk of whom, fifty years ago, would have died in their prime, but who now survive to " sit at home at ease," in the enjoyment of their well-won wealth and laurels. Such is the verdict of the medical profession, and in that verdict good sense and intelligence acquiesce.'

Now, let us examine a little more closely into the facts of this case. We freely admit, and shall probably surprise many of our readers by the admission, that the extensive consumption of pale ale in India has had a most beneficial influence upon the health and longevity of the European residents in that country. The testimony to this effect, which we have received from numerous disinterested sources, is too strong and tco unanimous to be resisted. But in order to make evident that the real bearing of this fact is against, and not in favour of bitter ale, we have only to inquire, for what beverages has the bitter ale been substituted— whether for water; or for the stronger alcoholic liquors ? No one who knows anything of the past and present habits of Europeans in India, can have the slightest difficulty in replying to this question. The terrible fatality of the 'seasoning' process was due, there can be no kind of doubt, to the excessive use of wine and spirits, which were taken under the delusive idea that they afforded the safest and best means of keeping at bay the noxious influences of the climate; and the health and longevity of the European residents in India have improved, in the precise proportion in which they have given up the use of alcoholic beverages, or substituted the weaker for the stronger. For those who cannot bring themselves to abstain from everything of the sort, the substitution of a malt liquor, containing a small proportion of alcohol, is doubtless the next best thing; and hence it has been that, as was pithily said to us, a few years since, by the surgeon to an Indian regiment,' Since our officers have taken to drinking bitter ale instead of brandy and water, promotion is no longer expected to take place more rapidly among them, than in any other departments of the service;' a statement which recalls to our minds the toast that was formerly common at the Indian mess-tables, — 'A bloody war, or a sickly season.' The latter of these fearful occurrences has now comparatively little influence upon the chances of the Indian officer's rise; and whilst much of the improvement in his health is to be set down to a better accommodation of his general habits to the requirements of the climate, and especially to the greater care now taken in securing the free ventilation of his apartments, there can be no doubt that a large share of it is due to the general substitution of Burton Pale Ale for spirits and wines, that is, to the substitution of beverages containing a minimum of alcohol for those containing a maximum.

Very strong evidence to the same effect is afforded by the experience of the comparative rates of mortality of the three divisions of the Indian Army, which was published some time since by Lieutenant-Colonel Sykes, whose official position gives to these statistics the stamp of the highest authority. The annual loss by death, in the European troops of the three presidencies respectively, on au average of twenty years, previously to the date of the returns, was as follows :—

Bengal, 73.8 per 1000.
Bombay, 50.7 per 1000.
Madras, 38.4 per 1000.

Now, there cannot be shown to be any other reason for the extraordinary difference in these rates of mortality—the annual loss of a regiment a thousand strong being nearly twice as great in Bengal as in Madras, and nearly one-half more than in Bombay—than the mode in which the troops (to use an American phrase) are 'liquored.' The Bengal army, we learn from Colonel Sykes, has no supply of porter, but is furnished with rum, a spirit peculiarly unwholesome in hot climates. On the other hand, the Madras army consume large quantities of porter, and drink comparatively little spirits, what they do consume being arrack, which seems in a degree less pernicious than rum. The Bombay troops had only recently commenced the consumption of porter; and the spirit they drank is understood to be more wholesome than rum, and less so than arrack. We have since been informed by Colonel Sykes, that the substitution of porter for spirits has produced the same good effect in the Bombay army that it had previously worked in the Madras; the mortality in the former during the last few years being reduced nearly to the level of the latter.
"The Scottish Review", 1853, pages 13 - 15.

Those fatality rates are scary. I've rethought my plan to join an East India Company regiment. The odds of survival look shit. After fifteen years in Bengal, everyone would be dead. And that's without combat.

That's not why I've published this text, eerily compelling as those number may be. I'm not sure what the temperance author would make of my reading of his piece. Probably that it demonstrates the debility of the drunkard. It was the references to Porter that grabbed my attention. Poor, old neglected India Porter. Is it just class considerations that have focused everyone's attention on India Pale Ale?

The phrase "Since our officers have taken to drinking bitter ale instead of brandy and water" is revealing. Especially when compared to the Porter references in the last paragraph. "Madras army consume large quantities of porter", "The Bombay troops had only recently commenced the consumption of porter". They refer to consumption by the army as a whole and not just the officers.

As you can see from the table below, Whitbread exported a considerable proportion of its total Porter output to India in the 1850's and 1860's:

Whitbread Porter output 1850 - 1867

Year

India Porter

% contract

total all Porter

1850

11,037

7.95%

138,819

1851

5,367

3.89%

138,114

1853

14,043

9.05%

155,125

1854

24,180

1855

34,715

26.47%

131,160

1856

128,232

1857

132,133

1858

13,158

8.68%

151,618

1859

35,619

21.55%

165,284

1860

50,430

28.83%

174,929

1861

120,786

1862

3,750

1863

30,493

18.94%

160,993

1864

10,392

7.45%

139,472

1865

29,337

18.59%

157,810

1866

133,181

1867

16,114

11.67%

138,047

Source:

Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives

Typical, the emphasis put on Pale Ale. Another case of only paying attention to the upper classes and ignoring the plebs. There's something else that never seems to change.

Monday, 25 April 2011

No, this isn't about the success of modern neo-prohibitionists (or bastards, as it's easier to call them). It's about India. Beer in India. But not the one you're expecting.

During the course of recent research into Pale Ale in India I kept finding references to another type of beer. One that's rarely mentioned nowadays in connection with India: Porter. With writers mesmerised by the romantic story of IPA, everyone's forgotten, ignored or neglected India Porter. Weird or what?

I would have published this stuff a while ago. But I decided to save them all up to coincide with a particular event: the release of the next Pretty Things beer: East India Porter. I should be trying the beer in just a few days. It should be one of the highlights of my year.

To kick off this series, here's a nice piece about Porter-loving squaddies:

INCREASING TEMPERANCE OF THE EUROPEANS. It is seldom that we can find either space or inclination to record details of improvements in the commissariat. A reform has, however, been recently effected on a point of vital importance to the health of the European soldier, and we are happy to believe that it has been completely successful. The Government has diminished drunkenness in the army, as it is proposed to diminish it in England, not by rendering the sale of spirits a misdemeanor, but by diminishing the cost of liquor less injurious to the constitution. It has often been argued that it is the duty on wine which drives the London artisans to the gin-shop, and it seems certain that use of porter has induced the European soldier to abandon rum.

Up to 1851, rum was the only liquor allowed to soldiers. "The army army drank rum in the Peninsula," and the Indian Government contracted with local distillers for an annual supply of a certain fixed strength. The liquor was kept for a period of three years in store, and then, after receiving an admixture of ten per cent cold water, sold to regimental canteens at thirteen annas and four pie per gallon. Another, and not inconsiderable, profit was derived from the circumstance that the liquor was bought at one and sold by another measure. At first the arrangement produced no financial advantage, but by degrees the soldiers found out that the rum kept in store for three years was of a much superior quality to the stuff obtainable from licensed liquor vendors.

The demand increased steadily, and in 1851 it actually yielded a net revenue of nearly two lacs of rupees. However gratifying that result might have been financially, yet it on the other hand afforded a painful proof of the increasing predilection of the soldier for spirituous liquors. The maximum quantity issuable to each soldier was fixed by the rules, and of course could not be exceeded ; but, nevertheless, it was surmised, and by subsequent information fully proved, that the desire for liquor increased, and was gratified by the consumption of the "diluted prussic acid" of bazaars. The glaring increase which the annual reports of the Military Board thus exhibited, attracted the attention of Government, and the Governor-General determined at once to check the growing evil by raising the price of rum, and by placing ale and porter within the reach of the soldier at a moderate cost. The Court of Directors were therefore recommended to contract at home for the annual supply of malt liquor, to be delivered at the risk of the contractor in India, and accepted after approval by special committees. The proposal met with the cordial approval of the home authorities, and the Governor-General, on the 17th July of 1852, passed an order " fixing the price of rum at 2 rupees per gallon, old wine measure, and directing that the difference between the above charge and the cost be credited to a general fund, from which a monthly allowance is to be made to canteens, for the purpose of reducing the retail price of malt liquor." This order was shortly afterwards followed by a public notification, stating the terms on which porter and ale would be supplied by Government to canteens, and in a General Order by the Commander-in-Chief, issued on the 18th March, 1853. it was determined that the monthly allowance payable out of the rum profits for the purpose of reducing the retail price of malt liquor, should be Rs. 140-14-7 for each hundred men. It was also ordered that the maximum issue to any one man should not exceed three quarts of malt liquor, without spirits, and two quarts with one dram in one day ; or one quart of beer with both drams of spirits.

We are happy to learn that, although the arrangements must still be considered in their infancy, there are already unmistakable proofs that they will work well. The accounts of the commissariat, it is said, show a steady decrease in the sale of rum against a large increase in that of ale and porter, whilst the recent improvement in the standard of rations absorbs the three annas and four pie deducted from the soldier's pay. He buys, therefore, porter at the canteen, and cannot afford to purchase rum in the bazaar. The change must soon be apparent, but it has not been effected without loss.

In fixing the monthly allowance to the canteen it was expected that the profits derived from the sale of rum would more than cover the outlay, and that Government would suffer only the loss of the two lacs of rupees formerly obtained from the traffic in rum.

It is, however, clear, that in its practical result, the loss will be much greafer, inasmuch as the beer-cheapening allowance is a fixed monthly expenditure payable out of a fund, the profits of which decrease as the taste for the less injurious liquor extends. This fact will be better seen on a reference to figures. Supposing 100 soldiers to avail themselves of the option allowed to them by his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief's order of the 18th March, 1853, and take on an average two quarts of beer with one dram of spirits, their monthly consumption would be as follows : —

The average profit derived by Government by the sale of rum is about Re. 1 5 a per gallon, and at that rate the above 75 gallons would yield Rs 98-7, but as the beer-cheapening allowance is fixed at Rs 140-14-7, Government will be a loser to the extent of Rs. 42-7-7 for each 100 men consuming beer and spirits in the proportions mentioned above. It may perhaps be premature to suppose that those proportions will be the result of the average consumption in all the regiments in India, but nevertheless a modification of the present arrangements may become recommended. We question, however, whether a loss of this kind will be weighed against the improved health of the soldiers, more especially as that health is ultimately a financial question of no ordinary magnitude.—Friend of India.
"Allen's Indian mail and register of intelligence for British and foreign India, vol. 12", 1854, pages 93 - 94.

Are you starting to see a theme? When Pale Ale is mentioned it's usually officers or East India Company officials who are guzzling it. It's the ordinary soldiers who got the Porter.

Whenever I tell people my favourite hot weather drink is Guinness Special Export, they look at me with a combination of horror and pity. Yet Stout continues to sell well in tropical countries. It's often the only type of beer available other than Pils. So why should it be a surpise that British soldiers took their taste for Porter with them to the tropics?

Sunday, 24 April 2011

It's been far too long since I wrote anything about sugar. Brewing sugar. I'm still getting a grasp of the subject. There's so much more to it than just 1, 2, 3.

The array of sugars available to early 20th century brewers is baffling. And each had its own specific use. First there were the ever-popular invert sugars, mostly used in the copper. Straight glucose was also used in the copper. Occasionally, even plain old sucrose was used. Then there were proprietory sugars, blends of various other sugars. Caramel mixed with invert sugars was popular for priming dark beers and colouring them at the same time.

Dextrin-maltose is a sugar I've not paid too much attention to until now. Though I've just realised that it often makes an appearance in brewing records. It's just called DM, which is why it had escaped my attention. Ah, the value of background reading. It'd explaining many of the puzzling entries in brewing logs.

Dextrin-maltose seems to have had a very specific use. See what the experts say:

"Glucose. (It has already been noted that the sugars dextrose and levulose are more often referred to now as 'glucose' and 'fructose' respectively. Commercial glucose, while consisting mainly of dextrose (or glucose) contains other substances and the term 'glucose' as used for the pure sugar should not be confused with the term as used for the commercial product.)

Commercial glucose is a sugar made by the action of dilute acid upon commercial starches derived from rice, maize, sago or potatoes. The process of preparation is as follows:

The starch is dispersed in hot water containing 1 to 3% of acid. The solution is heated, usually under pressure, until the reaction is complete. The starch is progressively hydrolysed into dextrin, maltose and finally glucose, although these reactions overlap and at any time all three products may be present, their relative proportions depending upon the stage to which the action is allowed to proceed. It the action is stopped as soon as all the starch has been destroyed (when the cooled liquid ceases to give a blue colour with iodine) the product will consist of a mixture of dextrin and maltose with very little dextrose. If this product, after neutralizing the acid, is concentrated to a syrup containing 75-80% solids, the result is known as dextrin-maltose. It is largely unfermentable and is not very sweet. It can be used as a priming to produce fullness and body in beer without increasing the fermentable matter too much. As such it is often a constituent of priming sugars for pale ales, particularly to be used in hot weather.

If the hydrolysis is allowed to proceed to completion, the resulting product on neutralizing and concentrating to give about 80% solids will solidify and this is commercial glucose. Glucose is mainly used as a copper sugar to increase the fermentable matter in the wort. It imparts a somewhat dry flavour."
"Brewing Theory and Practice" by E.J. Jeffery, 1956, pages 164 - 165

The characteristics of dextrin-maltose were: not very sweet and not very fermentable. At first glance you'd wonder what use it could be put to. But those features turn out to be perfect for one thing: priming Pale Ale. And in particular low-gravity Pale Ales.

As this entry from The Brewer's Journal problem page confirms:

"North Essex,—We are anxious to get as lasting condition as possible on our small cask trade, and we think of using dextrin maltose sugars in both copper, also as priming. We have hitherto primed with cane candy, but condition is rapid and soon goes off on tap. We also use No. 2 invert in copper. We now suggest using dextrin maltose both in copper and cask. We realise this sugar is not so sweet, but we think the dextrin will give us a more permanent fulness and lasting beady condition while cask is on tap. We shall appreciate your criticism and advice. We suggest priming with D.M. at rate of quart per barrel at rack and sending out casks ten days later to secure a steady condition before cask goes out to customer.

Your suggestions are in accord with common practice. Dextrin maltose and other sugars of similar composition are very useful as primings with low-gravity beers, especially light bitters, with which fulness rather than sweetness is required. It does give more lasting condition than the more fermentable sugars, which are more suitable when the beer is sent out at racking for rapid consumption. It is advisable to ferment the light bitter fully before racking."
"The Brewers' Journal 1940" page 664. (Published August 21st, 1940.)

You see the problem with straight sugar? It fermented too quickly and readily in hot weather and casks went off too quickly. Something that doesn't ferment as easily and isn't particularly sweet (you wouldn't want you Pale Ale too sweet, would you?) is the perfect priming.

Saturday, 23 April 2011

I promised you a glimpse inside Salt's brewery and here it is. The first bit. Just too many fun facts to fit into a single post.

"The new brewery is of the most complete character, the machinery and utensils in connection with it being of the best and most improved kind, and some of the vessels of enormous capacity. Ascending a flight of steps, we came to the mash room, a lofty apartment 52 feet by 36 feet, well-lighted and ventilated, the floor of which is both fire and waterproof. It contains five mash tubs, each capable of mashing fifty-five quarters of malt, four of which are fitted with Steels mashing machines, and the other with the old-fashioned stirring rakes, and all possess perforated copper false bottoms. The operation of "mashing" is an important one, and the greatest possible care has to be taken by the brewer, that the water to be used is of the proper temperature, and at no time during the process is his art put to a more severe test than at this period, After the wort has remained in these vessels the requisite time, it is drawn off the underbacks, of which there are two below the floor, both constructed of copper ; these are merely temporary receptacles for the wort, which runs therefrom direct to the coppers. Crossing a timber bridge, stretched over the hopbacks, we reached the copper house, a large place 60 feet square, with glazed roof and side lights. Here we were shown seven large coppers by Briggs and Morton, in each of which eighty barrels, or 2,880 gallons of wort is boiled with the hops at one time. Boiling is continued in these vessels for some hours, after which the hops are separated from the wort, and subsequently pressed under hydraulic presses. On our way thither we noticed, from the bridge, the two copper hop backs, each holding 170 barrels, where this separation takes place, and which is accomplished by draining the wort through gun-metal strainers.

In the copper house we also noticed Daniel's patent apparatus for condensing the washings obtained from the hops after the wort has been drained from them The process was explained to us by our guide as follows :—After separation from the wort, the hops are allowed to remain in the circular hop-back, and over them the necessary quantity of hot water is sparged, until all the saccharine matter they hold is completely washed out of them. These washings are then drawn into the apparatus and very quickly evaporated to the required gravity ; after which, they are pumped up to the coolers, and then mixed with the brew to which they originally belonged. The great advantages of this process are the rapidity of the evaporation, and the avoidance of anything like decomposition or colour in the wort, these ends being obtained by boiling the liquor in a vacuum at a low temperature. The process has been in operation in this brewery for several years with most satisfactory results.

From the copper-house we ascended to the cooler-loft, which forms the roof of next building, and measures go feet by 63 feet.

It contains one of Briggs and Co.'s copper coolers, 44 feet long, 28 feet wide, and 12 inches deep, with a capacity of 200 barrels, and three of Morton's horizontal refrigerators; but the greater part of the floor is covered with four open shallow coolers, wherein the cooling process commences ; the wort then runs over the refrigerators into the fermenting squares placed on the floor below. We noticed a novelty in this cooling room, consisting of two dreg filters - the first we had seen of that description in any brewery - being square timber vessels used for filtering the grounds which are left behind in the coolers, by atmospheric pressure.
"Noted Breweries of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 2", Alfred Barnard, 1889, pages 119 - 122.

Five mash tuns, each with a capacity of 55 quarters. Assuming their Pale Ale had an OG of 1065 and they were getting an extract of 85 brewers pounds per quarter, I make that about 200 barrels of beer per mash tun. Or, in total, about 1,000 barrels a day. That's quite a lot of beer. The annual capacity would have been 250,000 - 300,000 barrels. Not quite on the same scale as Bass or Guinness (who each brewed around 1 million barrels), but enough to put them in the top twenty. I'm sure I've got a league table of brewers somewhere. Here it is:

Largest breweries in the UK in 1884

Beer Bands (barrels)

sugar (lbs)

sugar estimated as malt (qtrs)

malt (qtrs)

sugar + malt (qtrs)

license and beer duty paid

Average OG of beer brewed

Guinness

1,300,000

0

0

310,930

310,930

391,843 16s 3d

1056.3

Bass

1,000,000

1,172,010

5,581

234,495

240,076

302,677 0s 9d

1056.5

Allsopp

850,000

326,081

1,552

212,091

213,643

257,689 16s 3d

1059.2

Combe

500,000

816,480

3,880

118,513

122,393

153,123 16s 3d

1057.6

Barclay

550,000

4,076,016

19,409

108,191

127,600

157,050 13s 9d

1054.6

Watney

450,000

3,294,035

15,686

205,816

221,502

273,383 5s 0d

Truman

450,000

0

Charrington

400,000

2,205,800

10,504

89,824

100,328

123,359 15s 0d

1059.1

Reid

350,000

1,800,008

8,571

76,985

85,556

104,972 5s 0d

1057.6

Whitbread

300,000

2,392,572

11,379

129,484

140,863

177,605 5s 0d

Courage

300,000

0

total

6,450,000

16,083,002

76,562

1,486,329

1,562,891

1,842,425 1s 3d

Source:

Document ACC/2305/8/246 part of the Courage archive held at the London Metropolitan Archive

Notes:

Output based on the cost of the brewing licence which was based on bands of output,

the figure given is the top of the band into which the brewery's output fell.

Average OG assumes a yield of 85 lbs of extract per quarter and is my calculation.

It's from a few years earlier, but close enough. See how well London is represented: 8 of the top 11. Though tellingly none of the top three was in London.

Now didn't I have another table showing the number of breweries of each size. Yes, that's it:

Number of UK breweries by output (barrels per year)

<1,000

publican brewers

1,000 - 10,000

10,000 - 20,000

20,000 - 100,000

100,000 - 500,000

>500,000

<10,000

>10,000

Total

1870

26,506

-

1,809

210

128

23

3

28,315

364

28,679

1875

22,138

-

1,864

260

194

25

4

24,002

483

24,485

1879

17,542

-

1,863

301

217

27

3

19,405

548

19,953

1880

16,770

-

1,768

272

203

23

4

18,538

502

19,040

1881

14,948

14,479

1,677

275

183

24

3

16,625

485

17,110

1885

12,608

-

1,537

270

187

27

4

14,145

488

14,633

1890

9,986

-

1,447

274

255

34

4

11,433

567

12,000

1895

7,213

-

1,162

267

256

34

5

8,375

562

8,937

1900

4,759

-

910

262

308

42

9

5,669

621

6,290

1905

3,787

-

832

232

280

40

9

4,619

561

5,180

1912

2,868

2,663

673

205

266

43

7

3,541

521

4,062

1913

2,700

2,502

615

210

271

42

8

3,315

531

3,846

1914

2,536

2,357

580

197

280

46

8

3,116

531

3,647

Source:

1928 Brewers' Almanack, page 118.

In 1890, there were 34 breweries producing between 100,000 and 500,000 barrels a year. Salt were about bang in the middle of that group.

That's odd. It's called the new brewery, but one of the 5 mash tuns only had rakes and no Steel's masher. Why was the one fitted out differently? Was it used for a particular purpose? If the brewery had been newly fitted out, you'd expect them all to be the same.

Seven coppers, eh. Helpfully, Barnard has provided a drawing of them. They look like open coppers to me. They definitely aren't domed coppers, like Fullers had. If you remember an earlier text mentioned that they preferred open coppers for Pale Ale.

"Daniel's patent apparatus" is intriguing. Hop sparging was pretty standard practice by this time - no-one wanted to waste extract. Presumably the liquid drawn of was pretty low gravity, so concentrating them would make sense. But, this being a Pale Ale brewery, they wouldn't want to boil for long for fear of changing the colour. They were, after all, trying to produce a beer with a pale colour. It sounds very Heston Blumenthal, boiling at low temperature in a vacuum. Does any brewery still do this?

The cooling process is very standard. Start off in a shallow open cooler, partly to remove all the sludge from the wort, then finish by running over refrigerators.

Now the wort is nice and cool, it s ready to ferment. But you'll have to wait for part three to find out about that.

Friday, 22 April 2011

I'll be in the USA again soon, family in tow. 1st May we fly out to Washington. Then I'll be wallowing in beery goodness for a week.

Tuesday 3rd May I'll be in New York for the launch of Pretty Things East India Porter. According the to Dann, it's the best beer yet in the series. Can't wait to get my lips wrapped around a pint of it. If you fancy being subjected to an hour-long monologue on 19th-century mashing techniques, come along. I'll talk to anyone who'll listen

My brother's coming over to look after the books. I've instructed him to talk them for at least 15 minutes each day. Tell them what good books they are and how much daddy loves them. I hope he doesn't hold one of his wild accountancy parties and spill cash on them.

Spare money? In Washington or New York during the first week in May? Buy me beer.

Not modern beer cocktails, obviously. These are ones I tripped over while trotting down the corridors of the past. I've still got a bruise on my knee.

"Ale and Beer Cups should be made with good sound ale, and drunk from the tankard; being more palatable and presentable in this way than in glasses.

Cambridge Ale Cup.—Boil in 3 pints of water 1 oz. of cloves, 1 oz. of cinnamon, 1 oz. of mace, (all bruised together), for one hour; strain clear; add 3 oz. pounded sugar, with the juice and thin peel of a lemon; then 3 pints of good college ale, and j pint of sherry; make hot immediately before serving; add a thin slice of fresh toast, with some nutmeg grated on it.

Ale Cup.—Macerate 0.25 oz. cinnamon, 2 cloves, 1 allspice, a little grated nutmeg, in a gill of sherry; in two hours, strain; press, and put this in a jug; pour in 2 pints Burton ale (No. 1), and 4 bottles Rawlings' ginger beer. This is a drink that will make you forget all care; a little ice is an improvement in the glass.

Ale Cup, or Jehu's Nectar.—Into a quart pot grate some ginger; add a wine-glass of gin-and-bitters; then a pint of good ale (heated). This should be drunk while it is frothing.

Ale Cup.—Bottle of good ale; pint of lumps of ice.
"Cooling cups and dainty drinks" by William Terrington, 1869, pages 184 - 185.

Bit dull those ones. Don't despair. The next set have much better names.

"Porter Cup.—Bottle of porter, wine-glass of sherry, 0.5 bottle of claret, 0.5 nutmeg (grated), sugar to taste. Mix the nutmeg and sherry; in a quarter of an hour, strain; put these together, in a jug, with a slice of cucumber and a large lump of ice.

Hot Cup.—Warm a pint of good ale; add 1 oz. of sugar, 1 oz. of mixed spice, glass of sherry; when nearly boiling, pour it on a round of buttered toast.

'Tween-Deck Cup, or a Splitting Headache.— Put into 0.25 pint of rum 0.5 doz. crushed cloves, a little cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; strain in an hour, with pressure; add equal quantities of limejuice, and 2 quarts of bottled ale.

Copus Cup.—Stick a lemon full of cloves, which roast before a fire till of a dark brown; while roasting, make a mixture of 0.25 pint of brandy, 0.25 pint of noyeau, 0.5 oz. cinnamon (bruised); let this be well stirred; then put the lemon into a bowl, give it a squeeze with a spoon; add a toast of bread, and lay the lemon on the bread; add 4 oz. pounded sugar; pour on 2 quarts of hot old ale; then add the spirits, and in a quarter of an hour it will be fit for use.

Ale Cup.—Bottle of Scotch ale, mixed spice and nutmeg on a toast of bread; pour through a strainer, on a lump of ice; drink immediately.

Ale Cup.—Grate 0.25 oz. nutmeg; add an equal quantity of pounded ginger, cinnamon, and 3 oz. brown sugar; beat these up with the yolks of 3 eggs; meanwhile warm 0.5 gallon good ale and 0.5 pint of gin; pour in, whisking the while the spice mixture, when all frothing: it must be drunk immediately.

Freemasons' Cup.—Pint of Scotch ale, pint of mild beer, 0.5 pint of brandy, 1 pint of sherry, 0.5lb. crushed sugar-candy; grated nutmeg to taste. This can be used either as a hot or cold cup.

Wait a Bit.—Pint bottle of the best Scotch ale; 1 bottle of aerated lemonade, pint of ice in lumps.

Mother-in-law.—Half old and half bitter ale.

Shandy Gaff.—Pint of good ale, bottle of ginger beer.

Cooper.—Pint of Dublin stout, pint of London porter.

John Bright.—Pint of stout, pint of bitter ale.

Purl, or Early Birds.—Heat a quart of ale, mixed with a tablespoonful of powdered ginger and nutmeg; whisk up with a gill of cold ale and 2 oz. moist sugar 3 fresh eggs; when well frothed up, add the warm ale, by degrees, and a glass of spirits; when this is done, drink immediately."
"Cooling cups and dainty drinks" by William Terrington, 1869, pages 185 - 188.

Dainty drinks? I wouldn't describe a drink containing half a pint of brandy and a pint of sherry as "dainty" myself. Sounds more like something that would get mixed up on a park bench.

I was shocked to see Mother-in-law in there. Who would have thought it had been around for that long? Just too good a bad joke, I suppose.

Splitting Headache - what a great name for a drink I can just iumagine ordering that in some trendy cocktail bar. "A Splitting Headache, please, and make it a pint."